Light-curable or light-hardenable materials are widely used in dentistry for the restoration of teeth, for example for filling a cavity in a tooth. Such materials typically can be made to provide optical characteristics that resemble those of natural teeth, which makes those materials a favored alternative to unpleasant looking amalgam materials.
Light-hardenable materials may initially be generally soft or flowable so that they can be applied in a desired location and shaped to a desired contour. For example, for restoration of a tooth the dental material may be filled into a tooth cavity and shaped so that the restored tooth resembles a natural tooth. Once the desired shape has been formed, the material may be hardened by exposing it to light of a specific wavelength and for a specific time duration. Commonly the wavelengths for such curing light fall between 300 nm and 500 nm.
Handheld dental light irradiation devices are widely used for hardening such materials. However, the devices currently available on the market do not produce a light patch of uniform intensity at the restoration site.
To achieve even and uniform curing of the dental materials at the restoration site, it is desirable to provide a light irradiation device that emits a light patch of uniform intensity at the restoration site.